The present invention relates to thigh support devices for seat cushions employed in vehicles, such as automobiles, and, in particular, relates to a device for adjusting the support pressure exerted against the thighs of a person sitting on the seat by movement of the thigh support up and down.
It has been known to construct conventional thigh support devices, as shown in FIG. 1, so that it can be operated by an operating handle (2) which is mounted on the side of a cushion so that an eccentric cam (3) located in seat cushion (1) can be operated to move an elevating plate (4) up and down thereby adjusting a thigh support part (1a) formed separately from the seat cushion (1) and back portion (5) of a vehicle seat. Since, however, the construction requires operation from the outside of the seat cushion (1), it is necessary to provide a space for such operation between the side surface of the seat cushion (1) and the inside wall surface of the car. Consequently, a size limitation is imposed upon the wideness of the seat which can be installed with such thigh support devices. Moreover, the construction is overly complicated and the operability of the eccentric cam (3) is not good.
The present invention is directed at eliminating these and other problems associated with conventional devices of this nature. For example, one object of the present invention is to eliminate the space requirement between the wall surface of the car and the seat necessary with conventional devices for installing the operating part of a thigh support device.